Pope Benedict leads the world
in celebrating Blessed Teresa's
100th birth anniversary
26 Aug 10 (RV) Mother Teresa of Calcutta is an “inestimable gift for the Church and the world”, said Pope Benedict XVI Thursday in a message to the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Blessed’s birth.
Born in Albania August 26, 1910, for over 45 years Mother Teresa ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.
The message, written personally by the Pope, was read out during Mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Calcutta, Lucas Sirkar in the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, the same house where on October 7 1950 she founded her order dedicated to the care of the sick, the destitute and the dying.
Celebrations at the Mother Teresa Center in Kolkata today. Right photo: Sister Mary Prema, the German nun elected last year to be Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity.
This morning’s celebration begins a special year dedicated to Mother Teresa, a year that Pope Benedict said he is confident will be “for the Church and the world an occasion of joyful gratitude to God for the inestimable gift that Mother Teresa was in her lifetime”.
Speaking to the Mother’s “spiritual children”, the many thousands of religious sisters, brothers and lay workers who carry on her mission of bringing Christ’s love to the “poorest of the poor”, the Pope urges them to draw constantly from the spirituality and example of Mother Teresa and, in her footsteps, to take up Christ’s invitation: “Come, be my light”.
Sr Mary Prema is Superior General of the Order, which today comprises an estimated 450 brothers and 5,000 sisters worldwide, operating 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries.
In a Letter sent to each of these missions, Sr Prema writes: “Her life and work continue to be an inspiration for young and old, rich and poor from all walks of life, religions and nations”. She adds that those who follow in her footsteps are called to share God’s love with those around us “beginning with our families”. And concludes in the Mother’s words: “A smile generates smiles and love generates love”.
Mother Teresa died on 5 September 1997. Following her death on 19 October 2003 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
Russia to honor
'most famous nun of all times'
MOSCOW, August 26 - A monument to the most famous nun of all times - Mother Teresa - will be erected in Russia.
The name of this Catholic ascetic, who dedicated her life to helping other people, is recognized in the whole world and is closely associated with holiness and kindness. This year, she would have celebrated her 100th birthday.
The monument to Mother Teresa will be erected in the Kaluga region, at the Etnomir (Ethnic World) cultural and educational center. The center is being currently built in the town of Borovsk, the Kaluga region, 90 kilometers far from Moscow. The center will have 52 ethnic areas representing customs, traditions and cultures of different countries.
Mother Teresa established her congregation, yhe Missionaries of Charity, at the end of the 1940s in Calcutta, India. In Russia,
On August 26th, 2010 the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata [Calcutta].
Mother Teresa, a devout Catholic, abandoned everything to follow Jesus into the slums and serve him amongst the poorest of the poor. She lived her life at a very deep spiritual level and was admired by millions throughout the world.
She cared especially for those who were often treated as outsiders in their own communities - the starving, the crippled, the impoverished, the diseased and the dying, from the old woman with a brain tumor in Calcutta to the young man with AIDS in New York City.
Her special focus was the care of mothers and their children. This included mother who felt pressured to sacrifice their unborn children by want, neglect, despair, and philosophies and government policies that promote the dehumanization of inconvenient human life.
“Roe v. Wade”, she said “deformed a great nation (America). She added, “The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships...It has portrayed the greatest of gifts-a child-as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience.”
She believed that loneliness was “the greatest poverty” of all and saw the West as prey to a soulless materialism. Though she received many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 she confessed “It is not success, but the dedication to one’s faith that is important.”
Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87. Today, over 3,000 nuns and over 500 monks in 710 institutions in 133 countries of the world are members of her order, the Missionaries of Charity.